**4.1 Goats in ANE literature**

Several texts excavated from ancient Mesopotamia refer to animals in general [15]. These can be categorised into the following types:


For several of these categories, examples were found in a collection of Sumerian inscriptions [16, 17]. If evident, this categorisation is shown and possible explanations for the texts are provided in parentheses.


**9**

*Goats in the Ancient Near East and Their Relationship with the Mythology, Fairytale…*

sarily mean, however, that it was first invented in Mesopotamia).

• Page 167. 8.Sec.B4.—'Wearing a long beard like a goat' (Category: humorous anecdote. Possible explanation: merely a physical description of a 'goatee' beard)

• Page 167. 8.Sec.B5.—'A goat is the gift of a large kid' (Category: ironic anecdote. Possible explanation: goats can reproduce at a very young age—as young as

• Page 167. 8.Sec.B6.—"A goat speaks as follows to another goat: I also toss my head." (Category: ironic anecdote. Possible explanation: animals of the same species are likely to behave in the same way. Or, people of a certain character can identify with another person of the same character, that is, it takes one to

• Page 169. 8.Sec.B8—'When the wolves were pursuing a goat, it turned around, and its feet stumbled over its own feet' (Category: humorous anecdote.

• Page 171. 8.Sec.B28.—'A fox spoke to a goat, "Let me put my shoes in your house!" The goat answered, "When the dog comes, let me hang them on a nail!" The fox answered, "If the dog stays like that in your house, bring me my shoes. Let me not stay till midnight!"' (Category: narrative contest. Possible explanation: this dialogue again suggests the intelligence of the goat in being

Goats are evident in the mythology of ANE as shown in various imagery. Two types of artefacts are available to the art historian [18]: objects in the round and two-dimensional objects. Objects carved in the round include figurines, theriomorphic vessels and weights. Figurines and animal-shaped vessels were often rendered in baked clay and rhyta (singular rhyton) in metal. Many of these objects were used in the temple complexes as votive objects (being brought as tribute to a god), as apotropaic figures (buried underneath the floors of buildings to ward off evil), were used during religious ceremonies or were used to weigh the produce brought to the temple by the citizens who formed part of the distributive temple economies. Two-dimensional objects included low-relief stelae, perforated panels in stone or ceramic, tablets and hollow carved stamps or cylinder seals. These objects had decorative use in temple architecture (stelae and panels). Tablets were used as administrative tools (to record numbers of livestock or produce), to train scribes, to capture true literature and royal inscriptions or to write letters. Stamps and cylinder seals were personal signatures used to identify objects or show ownership [19]. A general search for images of goats on ANE artefacts was undertaken. This was done through a search of archaeological research papers and books, which

Possible explanation: a goat is 'tripsy-footed'?)

able to outwit another creature).

**4.2 Goats in ANE artefacts and imagery**

cleverer than you" is my name.' After the lion had come to the sheepfold he roared, 'I released you!' She answered from the other side, 'You released me, you are clever,… the sheep are not here!' (Category: narrative contest. Possible explanation: again showing the intelligence of the goat. Alster [16, 17] suggests that this is the Sumerian fable that resembles closest to a true 'Aesopian' one. The Sumerian fables provide a definite answer to the much discussed question, whether or not the fable as a genre was invented by the Greeks. Although the genre is now proven to be considerably older than the Greeks, it does not neces-

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82531*

4 months).

know one).

*Goats in the Ancient Near East and Their Relationship with the Mythology, Fairytale… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82531*

cleverer than you" is my name.' After the lion had come to the sheepfold he roared, 'I released you!' She answered from the other side, 'You released me, you are clever,… the sheep are not here!' (Category: narrative contest. Possible explanation: again showing the intelligence of the goat. Alster [16, 17] suggests that this is the Sumerian fable that resembles closest to a true 'Aesopian' one. The Sumerian fables provide a definite answer to the much discussed question, whether or not the fable as a genre was invented by the Greeks. Although the genre is now proven to be considerably older than the Greeks, it does not necessarily mean, however, that it was first invented in Mesopotamia).


### **4.2 Goats in ANE artefacts and imagery**

Goats are evident in the mythology of ANE as shown in various imagery. Two types of artefacts are available to the art historian [18]: objects in the round and two-dimensional objects. Objects carved in the round include figurines, theriomorphic vessels and weights. Figurines and animal-shaped vessels were often rendered in baked clay and rhyta (singular rhyton) in metal. Many of these objects were used in the temple complexes as votive objects (being brought as tribute to a god), as apotropaic figures (buried underneath the floors of buildings to ward off evil), were used during religious ceremonies or were used to weigh the produce brought to the temple by the citizens who formed part of the distributive temple economies. Two-dimensional objects included low-relief stelae, perforated panels in stone or ceramic, tablets and hollow carved stamps or cylinder seals. These objects had decorative use in temple architecture (stelae and panels). Tablets were used as administrative tools (to record numbers of livestock or produce), to train scribes, to capture true literature and royal inscriptions or to write letters. Stamps and cylinder seals were personal signatures used to identify objects or show ownership [19].

A general search for images of goats on ANE artefacts was undertaken. This was done through a search of archaeological research papers and books, which

*Goats (Capra) - From Ancient to Modern*

**4.1 Goats in ANE literature**

apotropaic rituals)

etc. by the king.

vated to do so).

nature of the goat is identified).

[15]. These can be categorised into the following types:

• Short, functional fables, with no expressed moral

• The consumption of animals (as well as recipes)

someone having a 'gut feeling' about something)

• In humorous and ironic anecdotes.

tions for the texts are provided in parentheses.

fairy tale.

• Wordlists

• Myths

artefacts, there is some indication that they were considered more than merely useful as a livestock species with utilitarian value but also as an object in myth, legend or

Several texts excavated from ancient Mesopotamia refer to animals in general

• Omen collections (omina) (including guidelines involving extispicy and

• Personified animals in longer narrative fables, debates or contests

• Mentioned in propagandistic literature as being subjugated, hunted, collected,

For several of these categories, examples were found in a collection of Sumerian inscriptions [16, 17]. If evident, this categorisation is shown and possible explana-

• Page 99. 3.111—'Although it has never gone there, the goat knows the wasteland' (Category: ironic anecdote. Possible explanation: a goat has instinct to survive in the desert, or a goat is intelligent—this perhaps relates to the idea of

• Page 101. 3.123—'May you hold a kid in your right arm and may you hold a bribe in your left arm' (Category: ironic anecdote. Possible explanation: the kid can be brought as an offering—to request a favour from the god—but if the offering does not work, you also can back it up with a bribe to the priest who can implore the god on your behalf. This is interesting, since it suggests that people were quite aware that priests could 'bend the rules' if requested/moti-

• Page 106. 3.153—'The goat spoke in the manner of a (wise) old woman, but acted in the manner of an unclean woman' (Category: ironic anecdote. Possible explanation: goats are considered intelligent, but they are bawdy and eat everything including unclean things, which make them unclean. Here, the sexual

• Page 128. 5.55—'A lion had caught a helpless she-goat' (and she said), 'Let me go and I will give you my fellow ewe in return.' 'If I let you go, tell me first your name!' The she-goat answered the lion, 'You don't know my name? "I am

**8**

either provided references to relevant artefacts or showed photographs or tracings of artefacts. Where these items were considered important but the images were unclear, higher quality images were sought. Museum collections that have been made available for public viewing via the Internet were also examined.

This was followed by a classification and comparison of the images of the various artefacts.

To provide structure to the comparison, images that depict a similar theme or 'motif' were grouped. To this effect, a method was sought to provide some meaning to a classification. Whereas some scholars have argued that the depiction of animals in Mesopotamian art illustrates the start of religion, others have argued that animals provide merely a symbolic representation of the world as the artist saw it. However, it must be agreed that there must be multiple levels of meaning. To this end, the system provided by Root [20] to classify the use of animals in art is used here. An approximate seriation within each group was also undertaken (although it is conceded that the chronology provided by scholars commenting on these pieces is assumed correct, which may not necessarily be the case). The groupings made are discussed below.
